Let me start by saying that shooting with 4×5 large format is nothing like photographing with an SLR and certainly nothing like shooting with a DSLR/mirrorless. It is something akin to wrestling with an octopus armed with knobs and various loose bits… or perhaps it is more accurate to say that you feel a bit like an octopus wrapped around a contraption which is comprised of various knobby bits to turn and adjust. All of this while keeping a large piece of fabric over your head, so that you can make out the image on the focusing screen.

If it looks like the camera is eating me…. that’s because that’s how it felt. As for adjusting aperture from under the hood, you just need to memorize where that particular dial/ring/lever is located on the lens… oh and it’s a bit different on each lens….

Still. when it all goes sorta right, you are rewarded with a really cool image…

Quick look right before sliding in the 4×5 film holder to take the photograph. Photographed By Wing Tang Wong

A bit faint in the outside light, but under the hood, it’s definitely clearer.

View of focusing screen on the back of the Intrepid 4×5. Photographed By Wing Tang Wong

In this closeup shot,I had my A7Riii on a wider aperture and slow shutter speed, so it got blurred. However,seeing the details emerge on the focusing screen is quite rewarding.

What is less rewarding is the ache I now feel in my back due to the hunching over… ergonomic, large format photography is not.